I write to correct several misguided and inaccurate assertions made by Tarek Zohdy in his February 8, 2006 letter entitled “Cartoon Editorial was Irresponsible, Prejudiced.” Mr. Zohdy, how dare you. How dare you attempt to make the case that “[t]he depiction of the Prophet…in a newspaper to Muslims, especially in such a derogatory and inflammatory way, is equivalent to a firebombing of the Vatican to Catholics or a nuke hitting Washington D.C. to us Americans.” As offensive as a cartoon may be, it could never compare to the devastation and tragedy that a firebombing or a nuclear attack would bring to millions of people. I truly hope that this is an exaggeration made in an attempt to raise a few eyebrows and not a reflection upon your true beliefs. If so, well then you are just as wrong as the creator of this infamous cartoon. Such a quote seems to have only one result and that is to offend Americans, Catholics, and reasonable people everywhere. To say that one cartoonist’s indiscretion is the equivalent to firebombing or even nuclear war is an abhorrent statement which offends all standards of human decency and logic.
Apparently your legal education has not demonstrated to you the importance of free speech and the media’s right to print that which may be offensive and in poor taste. Such rights are the very reason why people like you are able to make such outlandish statements. Words and cartoons may hurt and make people angry. However, they should never serve as an impetus to riot or to storm foreign embassies. You may have made such comments in anger or outrage but that does not excuse you or any violent protester for that matter. As we have seen in the Middle East and all over the world, the power of the pen can have severe consequences. Next time before you begin to write, sit, think, and realize that the words you write have the power to hurt others. You wrote that “when emotions are involved, rational thought takes a back seat.” Clearly you were not kidding, your letter stands as a case in point.
And one final point, a good writer checks his facts. As of February 8th, there have been 10 deaths as a result of these cartoon riots, not zero as was your claim.
William G. Morris CAS ’05 wmorris83@gmail.com 914-548-6012
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
